The chief of Opitciwan’s Atikamekw nation backed Justin Trudeau’s
Liberals because he believed they would fundamentally change the
relationship between Canada and its indigenous people. Awashish says he
now regrets that decision.
Last month, the federal government appealed a tribunal ruling that would have awarded millions to the Atikamekw in Opitciwan —
a First Nations reserve on the shores of the Gouin Reservoir, an
immense man-made lake at the source of the St-Maurice River, about
615 kilometres north of Montreal.
The legal decision could have granted the impoverished First Nation
of 2,000 residents up to $150 million in compensation for flooding,
contaminated drinking water and other damage caused by the creation of
La Loutre dam in 1918.
The development of hydro power in the region in the early 20th
century flooded the original Atikamekw village of Opitciwan and ruined
the band’s immense trapping grounds.
Now, instead of reaping the benefits of a victory that was a
century in the making, the Opitciwan band council will have to
continue a legal battle that Awashish says it simply can’t afford.
“I lost all confidence in what I believed, in the thought that the
Liberal party could change things,” Awashish told the Montreal Gazette.
“You get a new party in power, but the same old tactics are used against
us.”...http://montrealgazette.com/news/atikamekw-disillusioned-by-ottawas-decision-to-appeal-ruling-on-1918-flooding